The first portion of your journey will be arriving to the United States. There are certain procedures and documents you will need to pay close attention to when entering the US. When you enter the US you will be doing so with the status of 'J-1 Exchange Visitor' in conjunction with the ICEO Work & Travel Program. When arriving to the US airport and traveling through customs you will need to present the following documents to the Immigration Officer and follow the proper procedures:

• Passport with J-1 visa (Canadian student exemption)
  This document must be presented to the Immigration Officer.
• DS-2019 form (provided by ICEO, your sponsoring organization)
  This document must be presented to the Immigration Officer. A copy will be taken of this document and another returned to you. Please make sure you keep this document in a safe place at all times, for it is very important to you. Should you lose or misplace this document please contact ICEO immediately!

IMPORTANT!
I-94 card (This is a white card you will receive on the airplane on your way to the US. Please do not use your green visa waiver card during this time unless you are from a country included in the visa waiver category, for you will need to use this card applying for your Social Security number.) This document will be stamped by the Immigration Officer. A portion of the I-94 card will be stapled to your passport and the additional portion will be kept by US Immigration as a record of your arrival. Once you return home the portion of your I-94 card that was stapled to your passport will be removed by U.S. Immigration and sent to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) for a record that you have departed the U.S. within the permissible program dates. Again, this document is extremely important, so please keep it safe!

Once you have passed through this portion of your entrance to the U.S. you will then enter the U.S. Visit Program border system where you will need to be fingerprinted and digitally photographed. These are new procedures designed to enhance the security of the U.S. and those people who live here or are visiting, such as, yourself.

Next you will move on to collecting your luggage. Please check the proper display to ensure you are at the right carousel, so that you retrieve your luggage accurately and in a timely manner. Should you have waited a long time or been stalled in customs there is the possibility that your luggage will not be on a carousel, but beside the carousel on the ground already. It is very important that you pay attention to not only retrieve your luggage, but to also guard against not taking someone else's luggage. Should your bags have been damaged or lost, please immediately report this to the airline, which you were flying. If you know where you will be staying in the US please provide this address to the airline to send your misplaced luggage to you once it is found.

After retrieving your luggage you will go to the customs desk where you will be required to show your passport, answer all questions asked by the officer and provide your declaration paper. There are US laws against bringing certain items into US. Below are a few things to consider:

• No drugs illegal in the US are permittable and prescription drugs should be clearly marked
• Perishable foods (ie: fruit, cheese & nuts) are not permitted
• Any items made by or from any material using US protected species is not permitted
• Your duty-free allowance is $100 in gifts, 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or 2kg of smoking tobacco.
• You may only bring in alcohol if you are 21 years of age or older.
• If you are carrying $10,000 USD or more you must report this to a customs official.
  

A few suggestions we offer for your program:

• Make at least two copies of all of your documents. Leave one set of copies at home with a friend or relative that you are in consistent contact with, another set in your luggage and keep another set with you at all times. You may choose to vary the number of copies you make, but we recommend at least 2.
• Carry your original documents with you in your carry-on in the plane. You will only have access to your luggage once you have successfully passed through immigration.
• Be sure to keep all of your luggage, purses, wallets and additional property close to you at all times, especially in places, such as, airports and bus stations, where there are many people and things may get lost easily.
• While a majority of the people you will encounter in the US will be positive, there are those who are not. For this reason please make sure that you stick to your plans the way they have been laid out for you, including paying close attention to your ICEO Post - Arrival Guide information. In addition, please do not expose any valuables you may have, including, cameras, wallets, valuable and important documents, as well as, money.
  

Should you have any additional questions before you travel to the US please contact ICEO.